


Black Roses

by lexa1204



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Protective Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), Young Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood), shape shifter jack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-02-16 10:57:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13052598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexa1204/pseuds/lexa1204
Summary: Jack is wounded, shot from a hunter, and finds himself in a dark forest- trespassing on Pitch's land. Everything spirals when they figure out that they're soulmates. Jack tries to hide the fact that he's a shape shifter, and Pitch tries to cover up what exactly he does as the Nightmare King.Soulmate AU where when you look into your soulmate's eyes you know they're your soulmate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know what is happening honestly

Jack stumbled through the forest; over the sticks and stones and little creeks that gurgled tranquility. Jack was in his original, safe, human form, which was extremely rare. His normal form was a pure white cat with blue eyes that could glare through anything, and his most favorite form was the snow leopard; he, unfortunately, was only that when he was in danger and had to move away quickly. He was only in his human form because he had been wounded. He had been attacked by a group of hunters, actually. 

Jack was hiding out with local deer to hide from the current threats against him, but, just to his luck, the deer had been targeted and he was shot in the process. He ran for as long as he could until he couldn’t take the pain in his shoulder and was forced to go to his original form. He heaved and sighed as he fell to the ground in a heap, crying out in pain as he tried to press down on the bleeding bullet hole. 

He took a deep breath and remembered a bag, the never-ending bag, that he’d stolen from some poor magic shop awhile back. Jack took off his blue sweatshirt and rifled through the secret pockets that lined the inside and grabbed the bag, knowing that there must be a first aid kit in there somewhere. 

He finally managed to pull it out and slumped over in relief, pulling out the tweezers to dig the bullet out of the hole. He took a deep breath and held it as the cool metal stung the hot, burning skin that surrounded the wound and he didn’t make a sound. 

Jack then noticed the impending darkness that seemed like it was surrounding and circling in on him. He sat up, quick on his feet and looked around. Upon this, he saw nothing except the usual blackness of the forest, and decided that he must have been hallucinating. 

He cautiously sat back down and started to wrap gauze around his shoulder to stop the bleeding. He managed to get everything bandaged up, and he slipped everything back in his pocket and pulled his sweatshirt back over his head. He cringed at the stinging that went up his arm and surrounded his neck area, but he bowled through it and stood up. 

He looked around quickly, and in a haze, he realized that he was, in fact, surrounding by a darkness that was not usual. It seemed to consume all the light, making it seem like thick smoke. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, and then looked around again, and to his surprise, he was correct. 

Every which way he could have gone was completely black. Jack panicked, knowing a plethora of people who could’ve done this, and most importantly, would have done this. Jack searched for a way out, but could not find any. He managed to gather enough energy to send ice towards the wall, but the darkness simply engulfed the ice in a dark blue rage and then settled back down. 

“Shit,,” He mumbled, not knowing who’s power this is. He wracked his mind for any idea, any game plan, but he was too weak to shift right now and fly away. He was too weak to even run. 

“You’re trespassing on my land.” Jack froze up immediately as the dark, deep, smooth voice permeated the air and he closed his eyes. He really messed up this time. Why couldn’t he have just stayed with the stupid deer? He let out a shaky breath. 

“I am so sorry,” Jack apologized profusely, turning around in a circle to meet eyes with his captor but not finding anyone. He calmed himself down, knowing that he might be able to talk his way out of it. “I’ll get off immediately. I didn’t know.” 

There was a thump on the ground behind him, and frankly, Jack was entirely afraid to turn around because he couldn’t handle the startle right now. He went to leave, but the darkness did not leave an opening. 

“Usually I am not kind enough to intruders.” Jack could not physically handle a fight right now. Perhaps he should just run and hope for the best; however, his… imprisoner obviously had an affinity with the dark and Jack could not avoid that. If he was to escape, he would have to wait until morning. 

“I do not deserve kind.” Jack was going to try manipulation. “However, I am very sorry and I express my deepest, most profound apologies and will get off of your land as soon as you make it possible.” Jack was talking with the nicest, calmest voice he could possibly muster at this point in his injuries. He had yet to face his capturer. 

“I don’t know,” He was toying with Jack, and Jack had to squeeze his eyes shut as tight as he possibly could to keep himself under control. “You sound sincere, don’t you?” Jack took a deep breath, and then decided to go for it. 

“Do you always play with your kill?” Jack asked with a curious voice, and the stranger laughed gently.

“Who says you’re my kill?” The Jack clicked his tongue. 

“You have yet to let me go, I am only to assume that you are going to kill me.” Jack turned around and was met with a very tall, dark, man. Jack was fixated on his body for a second.

“Make it quick-” Jack looked up into his eyes, and that was when everything suddenly stopped. Jack’s whole world froze, along with the strangers. He felt that feeling that he had only ever read about or heard about. The feeling that his whole life was now right, that everything was fine. When he looked into this stranger's eyes, he felt a settle in his head.

“Finally,” The stranger called out, and reached his hand forward and placed it on the side of Jack’s face. Jack stood frozen, paralyzed in fear. The unknown man who stood in front of Jack let his other hand come up to his face, and he was just feeling the skin. 

He knew that they had just bonded indefinitely. As much as Jack had said he never wanted to meet his soulmate, never wanted to have this telepathic connection with someone, it was kind of… nice. Somebody else was there for him.

“Mine,” The man whispered gently, looking down at Jack with soft, kind eyes. “My soul mate.” Jack would’ve cried and/or swooned if he wasn’t standing there like a deer in headlights. The physical contact was beyond anything either of them had ever felt. 

He let his hands travel around Jack’s body; down to his neck, to his waist, but as he touched his soul mate’s shoulder, he watched pain contort on his face. 

“You are injured?” Jack pulled back, nodding his head. 

“I’m okay though.” His voice was distant, not even his voice. 

“Let me see.” The stranger pushed him to sit down on a nearby rock, and gently moved his sweater out of the way. “You’ve bled through the bandages.” Jack looked down and flinched as he saw the wound. The stranger spent ten silent minutes very gently unwrapping the gauze from Jack’s shoulder as he saw the pain on his face. 

“Pitch.” The man suddenly spoke, startling Jack. 

“Huh?” Jack asked, tiredly looking up into the man’s golden eyes. 

“My name is Pitch.” It was suddenly clear to Jack. 

“Oh,” He reached his good hand up and rubbed his eyes, nodding. “Jack.” Pitch smiled softly at him, and then Jack realized he definitely should not have told him any name at all- let alone his real name. 

“You look hurt more than your shoulder, is everything else okay?” Pitch asked faintly, and Jack nodded obscurely, absentmindedly rubbing at the scars on his hips. 

“I’m fine.” Jack’s voice was fading in and out as he got drowsy. 

“Jack,” Hearing his own name coming out of Pitch’s mouth made butterflies swoon so hard in his stomach that he thought he was going to throw up. “I’m going to use magic on you, okay?” At this point Jack wasn’t thinking of the consequences, he just wanted to hear more of Pitch’s voice. 

“Okay.” He nodded, and Pitch smiled down at him. Black dust erupted from Pitch’s hand and wrapped around Jack’s shoulder. Jack looked up at him with a curious look. 

It’ll stop the bleeding and stay on until you heal.” Jack was confused, but willing to believe. 

“Are you a wizard?” Jack asked in all honesty, but Pitch just let a smooth laugh out. 

“That’s too long of a story to go into now. We’ll just leave it at I’m a master of magic.” Jack reached up and rubbed his eyes getting more and more tired by the second. 

He felt weak all over and light-headed. 

“I-I-” And then everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

When Jack opened his eyes, all he could see was black. He couldn’t even make out the faint shapes of the furniture that stood around his room. He could only feel the bed he was on and the blankets he was wrapped up in. 

He panicked. He didn’t have much recollection of what had happened; all he could remember was gold eyes and the feeling of both dread and absolute relief swell over him. He focused and tried so hard to remember more, to remember anything in the cloud that was his mind, but there was nothing.

Damage control was the only thing he could think now. He had to find out where he was, whether or not he was safe, and who else was here. He decided in a split second that shifting into another animal was the best idea.

Jack shrunk down to a cat, knowing that that was one of the only ways he’d be able to see in the dark. As he cautiously jumped off the bed and landed with a soft thud, he was able to look around and actually see. It was a very dark room, even as a cat. 

There were murals of dark black horses painted all around the walls, but when one of them suddenly moved, Jack realized they weren’t paintings. They were actual horses made of a black powdery substance. That made Jack even more nervous. 

he horses didn’t seem to care that an unknown person- or actually, a cat at this point was traversing their turf. This was unlike anything Jack had ever experienced and he was disconcerted.

Jack’s soft stepping little paws tiptoed across the floor and to the door that was made out of marble. The house was magnificent, Jack could tell that from just this room, but he didn’t know whose house it was or how he even got there. 

The little cat scampered across the floor as it pushed through the door. He made it to the other side without detection from anyone, and he slinked in the darkness of the shadows even though he himself was not dark. When he shifted to a cat, he was pure white with bright blue eyes. The animals he became usually looked like his true self.

The atmosphere around him grew darker and cooler as he continued on, and he closed his eyes for a brief second to think about everything. He needed to find a way to get out of this house, because he felt like he shouldn’t be there.

However, someone brought him here for a reason. He was in a hallway with an illuminated room ahead. When he heard a shifting movement from the room, he stopped for a second. Whoever was in there was probably the person who brought him here. After a quick minute of thinking he decided to shift back into his human form.

He quickly changed back to his human to avoid questioning, and as he rounded the corner, he quickly met eyes with a gold pair. 

“Jack,” A voice spoke fondly as he quickly got up onto his feet. 

Suddenly all the memories came flying back to him, and he felt stupid. This was his soulmate, and he was hurt. He had passed out in the forest and he must have come back here.

“Oh,” Jack’s hand flew up to his head and he rubbed his eyes. “I don’t even know where to start with the questions,” Jack uncomfortably laughed as he started.

“But my first one is your horses move on the wall and that freaks me out.” Pitch’s soft smooth laugh gave Jack this feeling in his stomach that was undeniably like butterflies. 

“I-I mean that’s not a question, but-” Pitch cut off his incessant rambling. 

“Those are my nightmares.” Jack watched in an awestruck terror as a horse materialized out of black dust and circled around Jack, neighing as if it were a real, alive, horse. Pitch must have seen the look of unease in his eyes. 

“They won’t hurt you.” Pitch consoled him as the mare nuzzled Pitch’s hand and then dissipated, and Jack honestly just sat there with a blank, wide-eyed stare. He shook his head and continued. 

“Where are we?” Jack asked, trying to hold back his confusion and caution; he didn’t want to be perceived as a threat. 

“My… well, lair, but I like to think of it more as a home.” Jack nodded, going through so many options in his head that it was going to give him a headache. 

“What are you?” Jack asked, and Pitch flinched a bit. He then realized that he was probably being insensitive and he regretted it.

“I’ve been called both the darkness, and the Nightmare King, but you can call me as you please.” Pitch seemed to blend right in with the darkness and it made sense to Jack. Jack took note that those names seemed a little ominous.

“Can’t I just call you Pitch?” Pitch looked relieved beyond belief. 

“Please.” Jack took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He didn’t have any more questions for now, but apparently Pitch had another idea.

“You are not human, correct? Because I can not see a logical soul mate pairing between someone immortal and someone mort-” That was the first time one of them had mentioned soulmate since they had met. 

Jack cut him off. “I’m a human.” Jack lied through his teeth, and Pitch seemed genuinely surprised. 

“You’re a mortal?” Pitch asked with a soft, hurt voice and Jack clenched his jaw. Guilt spread through his chest at the thought of harming Pitch.

“Well, I... I guess not.” He couldn’t lie to him, not when he sounded like that. 

“Then what are you?” Pitch asked, and Jack shook his head. 

“Doesn’t matter.” It was obviously a conversation that Jack wanted to drop, but Pitch mentally noted to definitely bring it up later. 

“How are you feeling?” Pitch made his way over to jack and loomed over him, giving Jack a sense of not only worry, but weirdly, security. 

“I’m okay.” Jack remembered that he had gotten hurt, and that’s how he got into this mess in the first place. 

“Does it hurt too much?” Jack would look at it, but it was still being covered by the black dust that Pitch seemed to be able to control. 

“It’s sore,” Jack admitted, trying to stretch out his back without hurting it.

“Are you hungry?” Pitch asked as though he’d had a sudden realization that food was a thing, but Jack shook his head. 

“I don’t eat a lot.” In reality, the food hurt Jack’s stomach when he switched his body form, so he only ate when he knew he wasn’t going to phase. 

“I can-” Pitch cleared his throat, smiling gently. “I can feel your emotions, Jack, and I know you’re hungry. Are you sure you don’t want to go eat?”

Jack knew that this whole Pitch feeling his emotions thing was going to cause a lot of trouble in the future. For now, though, he could forget about it and go eat some food.

Jack nodded in agreement, knowing that it would make it harder to phase, but in some form, not caring.


	3. Chapter 3

They’d had a lovely meal, honestly. They’d talked about pretty much anything and they got along like they’d known each other their whole lives- that’s how it was supposed to be with soul mates. Once they met, they’d never want to leave each other’s sides again. They had finished whatever meal it was and they’d migrated to what Jack could only describe as a living room.

He was kneading his palms together, like a cat would when it was comfortable, as he settled down into the chair. He sat with his legs crossed, as he tried to make himself as small as possible because it was what made him feel comfortable. 

“Where are we… like geographically?” Pitch turned to him with an intrigued face. 

“In a forest in Maine. I found you in New Hampshire, in one of my forests there.” Jack scrunched his nose in- how had he even gotten that north? 

“Why did you stop me? What if I had been human and you scared me?” Pitch shrugged his shoulders. 

“Well at first I was just gonna tell you to get off, but as soon as I saw you, I knew you were different. And then you turned around and looked in my eyes, and well, you know the rest of the story from there.” Jack softly smiled at Pitch as he talked about Jack in such a fond way. 

“May I ask you how you got injured?” Pitch treaded lightly, unsure of how Jack would react to such a personal question. Jack inhaled sharply, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Just a hunting accident. Nobody I really knew.” Jack was thankful it wasn’t anyone he knew because all the people that wanted to hurt him right now would do a lot more than just a bullet hole in the shoulder. He just wished that him and all the other shapeshifters could live in peace instead of living in constant fear that they were going to be captured and either tortured, killed, or sold.

Shapeshifters were so rare that Jack only knew two others, and they had only met because all three of them had been captured. Jack wouldn’t know any other shapeshifters if he had managed not to get imprisoned.

One of them, Sandy, and him planned an escape plan but the other one would not follow along. So when the two of them made their escape, they had to leave the third one behind. Jack desperately pleaded and begged, but the young shapeshifter was too scared to make a run for it. Jack sometimes still remembers her face, and it’s something that will always haunt Jack. 

Sandy and him stayed together for maybe a year or two before it became too dangerous for two shapeshifters to be together. Their goodbye was hard enough, but being alone after was the worst part of it. 

“A hunting accident? Somebody was hunting and they accidentally shot you? And didn’t help?” Pitch was definitely confused about the whole situation, but Jack really seemed to push it off as if nothing actually happened and there wasn’t a wound in his shoulder.

“It’s really nothing. I ran, they didn’t know I was hurt. No big deal.” Pitch had to bite his tongue because he wanted to scold Jack for being so careless with his life. 

“You should be more careful. You are very hurt and I’m not sure how long it will take to heal with my magic. Probably three to four weeks, at best. It could be even more depending on the fact that the bullet went straight through your shoulder and came out the other side.” Jack sucked in a breath. 

“Three to four weeks?” Jack whispered, trying to figure out what in hell he was going to do.

“You could… stay here with me. It would help the healing process, with the magic being so close to me. And we could,” Pitch cleared his throat, and Jack noticed how nervous he looked and thought it was kinda cute. “Get to know each other.”

Jack rubbed his eyes, taking a moment to ponder. If he stayed here, he wouldn’t really have to deal with trying to stay safe from all of the hunters. But, he would have to hide the fact that he was actually a shapeshifter. He couldn’t trust Pitch yet, and even though he was his soul mate, Jack still feared for his life. He was just lucky that Pitch hadn’t recognized him from the underground hunter society where they pass around pictures of shapeshifters. 

“Are we like… in a cave? Or somewhere? Like-” Pitch cut Jack off.

“We’re far underground, and there’s one opening I can show you later. You can only get out or in if I am there to allow it, which of course I will whenever you please.”

Jack couldn’t help but smile at how careful Pitch was being with his words. He was beyond thankful that Pitch was being so welcoming and warm-hearted.

“I would love to stay here, Pitch. Thank you so very much for such an invitation and I will ensure that I am not a burden.” Pitch’s eyes lit up as he processed Jack’s words. 

“You would never be a burden. I am honored that you have chosen to stay here with me. Let me show you a room you can stay in.” Pitch stood up and Jack stood up behind him, staying close. 

He was comfortable but uneasy at the same time. Pitch’s home was dark, and he could tell that it was underground. There were dark colors everywhere; reds, greens, blues, purple, but all so dark to the point that they might as well have been black. The place was huge, though. Jack was astounded how it kept going.

“This is my bedroom, and although I don’t sleep everyday, I do sleep about every four to five days.” Pitch gestured to a large door with intricate wooden details. 

“This can be your room. I can show you as many as you like, but this is my favorite, and I think you will enjoy it too.” Pitch opened the door and for a quick second he wished that Jack would sleep with him but he knew it was far too early for that. Pitch opened the door and whisked Jack into the room. In the middle of the room lay a huge bed, with dark blankets all around. There was a canopy over the bed and the walls moved with horses.

Jack smiled, and went over to the bed. 

“I’ve never had one.” Jack couldn’t contain his grin as he turned back to Pitch. 

“A bed this big? I know-”

“No, a bed all together. I’ve never had a bed that was mine.”

Pitch’s heart practically stopped in his chest. Jack had never had a bed to call his own? 

“You’ve… never had a bed? Ever?” Pitch asked incredulously, hoping this was all a cruel joke. The look on Jack’s face told him otherwise.

“I’m always on the move. I’ve never even stayed anywhere for really more than a week for as long as I can remember.” Jack nonchalantly spoke but then realized that maybe it was a bit too much to tell Pitch. “But it’s okay. I’ve had a lot of homes before.” He tried to laugh it off, but Pitch could hear right through him.

“My dear Jack, I am so happy that I can provide this for you. Please, make yourself at home. I can leave you alone, or I can stay or we can go back to the living room, or anything you desire.”

Jack thought for a second.

“Why don’t you give me a tour of the whole place?”


End file.
